My bowling ball arsenal

I now have a basic three ball arsenal.  I have a Columbia-300 Arch Rival, a Brunswick Twisted Fury and a Columbia 300 White Dot for right hand spares, all weighing 15lbs.

 The Arch Rival was my first ball and was drilled for maximum length and a strong backend reaction by placing the PIN about an inch about the fingers.  

I bought the Twisted Fury about two months later and after observing the reaction on the Arch Rival, I had it drilled to have a little more midlane recovery while still maintaining a strong backend reaction.  This was achieved by putting the PIN about 1/2″ above and 1/2″ outside the ring finger hole.  What I found when actually threw this ball, however, was that it actually went just about as long as the Arch Rival with a little more backend reaction.  

To get a bigger reaction difference between them, I decided to have the Arch Rival sanded down to 400 grit.  This made the ball react a little weaker of the breakpoint, but gave the ball a whole lot more midlane reaction and go in to a roll a little earlier.

My strategy come league night, is to open the lanes up with Arch Rival.  I bowl down and in, throwing the ball down the 5 board.  At about the 30′ mark the balls starts to make a move back toward the pocket.  After about a game the lane starts to transition a little.  I usually make a move inside by about four boards and change my target one board inside.  If I have to move my feet again within the game, I usually make a ball change to my Twisted Fury and return to my original line.  The extra length on the Fury with the extra backend reaction means the ball finishes right in the pocket all over again.

By the third game I’ve usually moved in about seven boards with my feet about three boards with my eyes.  I’ve found that the further I move, in the sharper the reaction gets off the breakpoint, from both balls. I need to work on pushing the ball further down the lane and playing different angles when necessary by adjusting ball speed and axis rotation.

The White Dot travels in a straight line no matter hard many revolutions I put on the ball.  I suspect that if the ball might react a little if the lanes get bone dry, but I doubt it would be more than a board or two.  I still need to practise with this ball to ensure I hit my mark again and again.  I’ve noticed that if I miss my mark by more than a board to either side, I tend to miss the pin I’m shooting at as well. 

Anyway, back to practise I guess…